Mastro In and Out of French Jail

The Seattle Times and Puget Sound Business Journal had numerous 2012 articles about Michael and Linda Mastro’s flee from justice and their capture in October. The saga was one of the top stories of 2012. The Mastro’s were captured in France after 16 months on the lam. At the end of the year they were still reported to be in France but out of jail under house arrest. They were released from jail in early December. Michael is 87 and Linda is 63. They are wearing electronic monitoring devices and their movement outside of their apartment in Annecy is very restricted. In the US they face 43 counts of money laundering and bankruptcy fraud.

Michael Mastro and his wife disappeared in the summer of 2011. The US issued warrants for their arrest and court orders that they turn over jewelry valued at $1.4 million. The courts confiscated items left behind and sold them at an auction. Unpaid debts are listed at more than $270 million.

Their former mansion sold 12/6/10 for $9.1 million by the bankruptcy court. There are a series of attorneys listed as the buyers: Robert Bruce Johnston, LCY LLC Series Homes, and James F. Rigby Jr. that were used to sign the documents to keep the real buyers’ identity off the official records. Mastro paid $15 million for the mansion in 2006. The Mastro bankruptcy, with original debts of $570 million, is the largest in Washington state’s history. Many “family and friends” lost their fortunes when his commercial real estate investment funds failed. More information about Mastro and his former Medina Mansion is in Seattle Mansions posts on 2/26/11, 4/6/11, 11/10/10, 10/11/10 and 11/12/09.

The listing was by Lisa Whittaker, Coldwell Banker Bain: “A property of significance and glamour. A brilliant pedigree; combining contemporary architecture with classic proportion. Over an acre of manicured, ultra-private grounds; 176' of west-facing waterfront with substantial moorage, boatlift & sandy beach. Magnificent Great Room with soaring 18’ ceilings, luminous wall of windows, soft graphite Venetian plaster. Caterer’s kitchen; wood-paneled library, separate MIL/Staff quarters. A rare offering designed for entertaining, art and the art of living.”

Bensussen buys Olsons’ Hunts Point Mansion – $11 Million

Hunts Point – “The Bellisima”

The $11 million sale was recorded 1/23/12. The buyer was listed as ERGL LLC whose agent and manager is Eric Bensussen. He is the Co-Founder (with Barry Deutsch) and President of Woodinville based Bensussen Deutsch & Associates, Inc (aka BDA Inc.) The company’s slogan is “Evolving Branded Merchandise.” A 10/15/2000 Puget Sound Business Journal article by Sharon Baker featured the founders and the start of the company. “Eric Bensussen, then 20, and Jay Deutsch, all of 17, launched their Woodinville company by selling Seattle Seahawks sweatshirts in 1984. . . the duo now run an operation that could bring in some $140 million in sales this year, up from $108 million in 1999. . . provides promotional merchandise -- those freebie hats and T-shirts, pens and other merchandise emblazoned with company logos -- as part of an overall promotional strategy for firms such as The Boeing Co., Microsoft Corp., PepsiCo Inc. and Nintendo of America Inc. . . .” The company is now international, revenue exceeded $250 million in 2010 and clients include Coca-Cola, Major League Baseball and GEICO.

This mansion, “The Bellisima,” was featured in a 3/11/11 post when it was listed for $14.1 million. (The listing price was $12.9 million at the time of the sale.) The mansion (page 136 in LW 130 Homes) is near the center of the eastern shore of Fairweather Bay. It was listed by Tere Foster and Becky Gray, Windermere. The sellers, Rodney and Janice Olson, purchased the Hunts Point 2 acre tip on 3/31/11 for $14.8 million (see 6/11/11 post).

Paul Allen Charity

Paul Allen’s charity donations in 2011 were the most generous of any living American donor. This was reported in The Chronicle Of Philanthropy on 2/6/12 and summarized in a 2/7/12 Puget Sound Business Journal article by Emily Parkhurst. Allen gave a total of $372 million to charity. He gave $295 million to his own Allen Family Foundation and $70 million to the Allen Institute for Brain Science. The Allen Family Foundation has numerous programs including libraries, education, science, arts and culture.

Allen was number three on the list of all American donors. Two deceased donors gave more. Margaret A. Cargill from Minnesota bequeathed $6 billion and William S. Dietrich II of Pittsburgh bequeathed $500 million. Bill Gates was not on this year’s Chronicle’s list of the 50 most generous people in America.

Paul Allen and his Mercer Island private campus/compound/estate are on pages 64 and 65 in Lake Washington 130 Homes. The book highlights the charity activities of owners of the mansions in the book. Previous posts in this blog regarding Paul Allen were about his book, Idea Man, (4/22/11) and a guide for viewing his Mercer Island campus (12/28/10).

Paul Allen’s Private $150 million, 9.6 acre campus/compound/estate

Waterfront Home Sales Surge In 2011

Bruce McCaw’s Former Groat Point Mansion Sold For $15.3M

This is the most expensive home sold so far in 2011 and was featured in our 2/13/11 post.

The Puget Sound Business Journal reported in the March 31, 2011, edition sales of homes over $1 million are surging. This, of course, includes the premier waterfront homes featured in Lake Washington 130 Homes. The March 254 pending and closed sales for homes over $ 1 million in King County are up 63% year over year. Slightly less half the 254 had closed at the time of publication.

Tere Foster of Foster Realty and Windermere was quoted in the article: “It’s significantly different than last year. There’s some energy in the market.” Tere has the “Harmony” – Glazer Mercer Island $26.9 M listing featured in our 3/20/11 post.

The article also featured a former Microsoft exec who moved from Sammamish to a $3.6M 6,670 sq ft mansion adjacent (but not on the water) to Michael Mastro’s former mansion on Medina’s Evergreen Point.